BSF! Go disable the trap with your pisspoor will save! Oh crap! The BSF is trying to kill us! RUN!

Sorry, my Evil GM side popped in for a visit for a moment there.

- Gauss

Again, you're getting hit with a trap that casts Dominate Person before the party has access to Dispel Magic?

Confusion can work just as well.

So we're talking about a party coming across a trap that casts Confusion before anyone has a scroll of Dispel Magic? Seems a bit unlikely. Especially since you could probably as said earlier, just use a wand of mount.

"Oh god, the horse is confused!"
"What will do?"
"Ranger...I think you know what we need to do"

there is also the first level spell Aram Zey's focus. it gives you trapfinding (as the rogue ability) for a minute per level. it's on quite a few arcane lists, as well as the alchemist's. it's great if you don't intend to take 20.

There are occassional trap heavy campaigns. But just like any other 'player handbook information' that fact could be announced up front. Even without that any PC can find traps and by using detect magic can find magic traps.

Still not getting the "OH GOD, the Traps, the Traps!" thing I hear, that somehow requires a trap specialist.

Who runs into this many, and deadly of traps to require such a focus?

This must be a 2nd edition thing. It's my only explanation.

My experience with traps is that they're just sort of something you "Outlevel" like climbing and stuff like that. At low levels, they can be dangerous, but from mid to high levels, you just have too many tools in your toolbelt for a trap to pose a challenge.

When PF removed the DC 20+ restriction on non-rogues finding traps it basically made trapfinding not necessary to party composition. Add in cheap summon monsters and traps are easily dealt with. Traps are no longer the problem they used to be. The CRs are too high too.

BSF! Go disable the trap with your pisspoor will save! Oh crap! The BSF is trying to kill us! RUN!

Sorry, my Evil GM side popped in for a visit for a moment there.

- Gauss

Except, in PF, anyone can use Perception to find and identify ANY sort of trap.

So as long as you found the trap, you'd know what it does, or at least a good enough idea, to know not to send in the low will save BSF for *this* trap. Even if finding a trap doesn't ID what it is and how it's sprung (which should be what "finding it" does...), detect magic is at will. It pings "enchantment," you tell Mr. Low Will to stand the F back.

Traps used to be TPK back in earlier editions. So you HAD to have a rogue. But between the assumption of rogue as skillmonkey in third. the compression of the skill list in PF the expansion of other classes with lots of skills and the insult of the ninjas and vivisectionist the rogue is dying. At least the fighter still wins dpr. There's almost no rogue idea that cant be better optimized in another class.